Tuesday, September 21, 2021

A Scrappy Trip Lap Quilt for a Friend

There are only two ways to live your life. 
One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.

Quilting


A friend requested a lap quilt with some blues last year and this is the first time I have to work on it. Since there are still loads of squares, I combined some of them and pulled some blue fabrics from my stash to emphasize the color he wants. The scrappy variety of fabrics works well. There's not enough of any to run across the entire quilt. Instead, the colors add a twinkling aspect as they values change position. {At least, that's my story.}

Here's what I have after a week.



I'm not sure if this is a postage stamp quilt or just a one-block design. 

The Giants baseball quilt is coming along. Binding is all that's left so it should be finished next week.

Reading

Science journalist Chelsea Wald spent several years studying sanitation world-wide. Pipe Dreams amalgamates the history of toiletry throughout human development and looks unflinchingly at the lack of sanitation in countries without sufficient water or infrastructure as well as rural areas in developed countries that lack equal access. She discusses how we waste resources - including water, energy, and nutrients - by continuing to use technology that developed over one hundred years ago. 

She begins the book in Amsterdam where much of the country lies below sea level. Current western toilets depend on gravity to move waste. That's often not possible here. Additionally, they are working innovatively to keep their water clean.

One interesting chapter told of a company creating jet fuel from human waste. At the very least, methane escaping form current waste water treatment plants contributes to air pollution and global climate change. 

As Chelsea points out, there is a huge yuck factor discussing the issue but avoiding something everyone does doesn't make it go away or improve.

I mentioned this book to my niece and found out she it installing a compost toilet to the RV she is building. We had a great discussion about how her toilet works and about details of this book. Have I mentioned how talented she is? No sewing but she can make almost anything.

Enjoy the day, Ann

12 comments:

patty a. said...

The blocks looks good and I love the scrappy look.

LA Paylor said...

gosh there is so much to know in this world, so much to study and improve on. I'm glad there are all kinds of people with all kinds of interests so that someone can be working on things I might not want to... we need each other! Your scrappy blocks are so striking together and are a color/value study. Do you have a long arm to quilt these big quilts? I am just finishing one 42" quilt and it was a challenge to make with my domestic, not even bed sized but still hard on my back.

Kaja said...

We have a composting toilet at our lake, for the fishermen. It is brilliant and not at all as unpleasant as one might expect. I like how your blocks look, just the right balance of surprise and coherence.

Ann said...

Thanks, Patty. I hope to finish this soon.

Ann said...

You never know when you might want to change the way we do things. Plus some ideas can apply to our current toilets.
No long arm here but I’ve quit quilting king size quilts.

Ann said...

That’s what my niece explained but how interesting to find two people using them. It seems like a good way to recycle locally and lower the work involved. No sewer lines or septic tank to maintain.
I wasn’t sure about this but I’m enjoying the postage stamp plan.

Preeti said...

Twinkling effect is a coveted attribute in a quilt!!! Keep going :-)

Marie said...

Your scrappy trip is beautiful. Is this how the blocks will be laid out? I think it would be lovely.

Ann said...

Thanks, Preeti. It’s coming along.

Ann said...

Thank you, Marie. Yes, this is how I plan to see the top. Hope it works.

audrey said...

You are fine-tuning your scrappy trips these days. I love how you always manage to get the sparkle and balance just right with them, no matter how scrappy. In fact, you make it look almost altogether too easy when we all know it's not at all!

Ann said...

How kind of you, Audrey. Your quilts are always full of sparkle and balance. When you add applique I just melt. Don't we have fun playing with fabric. I hope we never outgrow it!